Tag: teaching

The Ultimate Back to School Checklist for Teachers
teaching

The Ultimate Back to School Checklist for Teachers

Essentially Better Living1 Comment

All those in favor of teachers getting time to work in their classroom on staff development days, say “aye!” Teachers everywhere hope and pray for this scenario. Yet in reality, we find ourselves immersed in non-stop PD for every one of these days. After years of hoping, I have made the shift to coping and problem solving. I’ve created a master list of “things to do before school starts,” that I want to share with you here. It will mean you have to come in and extra couple of days. But if you will execute this list, your stress level will be significantly lower. Not to mention, your attitude will be SO much better for it! Consider doing all of this TWO WEEKS before school starts. So that the last week of summer is YOURS.

Pro-tip: Copy these lists to your Notes app on your phone and make it a clickable bullet list. Feel free to edit and make it your own. It is so satisfying to mark each of these complete! You will also have it saved for next year and every year!

Clean and organize

  • Buy needed supplies for classroom + paper towels 
  • Order label maker tape/batteries 
  • Order new planner, desk calendar
  • Keys to room 
  • All furniture in place 
  • Clean counters, cabinets, drawers 
  • Curtains up 
  • Scrape old letters off white board, hot glue off surfaces, remove old staples
  • Restock desk, teacher station
  • Reorganize supplies
  • Re-label class period on drawers, trays, bins
  • Label supplies
  • Re-label days of week for makeup work station, trays, bins
  • Inventory classroom needs and make list of these

Room Decor

  • Locate Anchor Charts for first unit
  • Word Wall for first unit
  • Calendar bulletin board
  • Student work bulletin board
  • New white board letters up 
  • Put up posters
  • Student supplies organized and accessible

Technology

  • Connect to printer and projector, and test
  • Power on Clear Touch and log on
  • Doc reader set up 
  • Sync and test microphones
  • Plug in all power strips
  • Connect extra monitor
  • Turn in technology work orders
  • Able to video record from Doc Reader?
  • Update teacher website for new school year

Other/Sanity Maintenance to do BEFORE Beginning of Year PD. (These are those things you think admin should give you time for. But they can’t. Their supervisors expect them to plan PD for us. I remind myself of this so I can be at peace and have a better attitude on these days.)

  • Lesson plans turned in for first week
  • Set up Google Classroom/Class Codes
  • Update Parent Letter
  • Update Syllabus
  • Update Daily Slide for first day
  • Copies for 1/2 day and first full day, back to school night (including syllabus and parent letter)
  • Back to School Night slide show
  • Amazon Teacher wishlist with QR code for parents
  • Seating Charts – (If rosters are available)
  • Candy for first week of school treats
  • Schedule library class visit
  • Put in for days off -appointments

This is your master list for teachers to do before the first day back. If you have other things that you do to prepare, please share! I hope these lists will give you a smoother start to your year. I also hope that you will feel less stress and more at ease this new school year.

If you appreciated this post, follow me on WordPress so that you will get email notifications for future posts. Also check out my list of Overlooked Teacher Gadgets You Need for Setting Up Your Classroom. Have a great year!

Overlooked Teacher Gadgets You Need for Setting Up Your Classroom
teaching

Overlooked Teacher Gadgets You Need for Setting Up Your Classroom

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You’re getting ready to set up your classroom. You’ll be sure to have a stapler, bulletin board border, and all of those cute and obvious items you need. As a veteran teacher, I want to share with you a few small overlooked items that make a huge difference! They make your life EASIER! I am also linking to my Instagram Stories so you can see them in action!

  1. This magnetic staple remover. It is so much better than the claw type. The claw version will tear up your border, paper and cute items! This removes the staple with minimal damage.
  2. Magnet wand. Have you ever found yourself on your hands and knees picking up stray staples? Have you ever swiped a bunch of staples into your hand only to be stuck by one? If you have, your wheels are already turning wondering why this item isn’t already in your life. This magnet wand is just what you need for picking up all those staples you remove from your bulletin boards.
  3. Putty knife. Need to scrape vinyl letters off your white board? This tool is your best friend. It makes quick work of the job so you can move on to something else. I use it for dozens of other small jobs around my room as well. Must have!
  4. Magnetic level. If you need to apply vinyl letters to a white board or any other magnetic item, this is priceless. They will go on straight, effortlessly.

Check out my Instagram Stories (“Teaching 2” Highlight) to see these gadgets in action in my own classroom. Follow me for more ideas!

These tools can make your job easier and help you be more efficient. If you appreciated this post, follow me on WordPress. You’ll be sure to get an email notification for future posts that way. Also check out my post, Master To Do List for Teachers Before Going Back to School. I am an Amazon Affiliate and can receive compensation for the items included in this post.

Achieve Work-Life Balance as a Teacher
health · inspiration · personal development · self help · teaching

Achieve Work-Life Balance as a Teacher

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Over the years as a teacher, I have observed my colleagues stay at school way into the night hours, take stacks of work home, and complain they have no time for themselves or their families. Some even come to school to work on the weekends. They struggle with home-work balance, finding time to be a great parent, teacher, friend, family member. Their workload takes its toll on their mental and physical health. If there is a complement I consistently receive from other teachers, it’s that I have good home-work balance. Part of this stems from placing a priority on my inner peace above and beyond else, but there also are many habits and protocols I have put into place over the years to accomplish this. I realize there are countless blogs and posts on self care, but this one is for my teacher friends.

Set boundaries.

Teaching can consume all of your time if you allow it to. There is always something else to do! You have to start by setting some time boundaries. Now, I am not one of those teachers who spend all their time at school, but nor am I one who gets there at the last minute as buses are unloading and driving off as buses pull out. I come in an hour before kids and often stay an hour after my contracted day. I am motivated to be a great teacher and I love my students! But I also love my family and protecting and guarding my own mental and physical wellbeing. You will never look back ten years from now and think “I wish I spent more time at work,” but you may wish you spent more time with your family, chasing your dreams and taking care of your health.

When you’re thinking about setting time boundaries, set a time that you can be consistent with and agree with yourself that you will stop working and leave at that time daily. For me, the school day ends at 2:30 and I am committed to leave at 3:30. That is a personal time boundary to set for yourself that allows you to get your work done, but also have time for your family and for yourself.

You can’t pour from an empty cup.

You have also probably heard the expression that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Some of the things you should consider doing to fill your cup are:

  • Exercise (bonus points if this includes a yoga class once a week)
  • Go to a spa, get a massage, or go to the infrared sauna once a week (*stay tuned* – future post topic)
  • Allow yourself to indulge in a hobby whether that’s reading, writing, art, or playing an instrument
  • Get outside. Work in the garden. Take a neighborhood walk or go for a hike – make it a point to get outside and get some sunlight.
  • Make a point to go outside and get some sunlight EVERY DAY during your lunch break or planning at school. This helps your circadian rhythm and will help you sleep through the night. Hit me up in the comments if you want to know more about circadian rhythm or you can Google it.
  • Start taking a magnesium supplement. This will also help promote sleeping through the night.
  • Consider quitting drinking – that’s a whole different post.

My list is a little different than your typical “self-care list.” That’s because TRUE self care means taking care of yourself. Not filling yourself with gluten or breathing in artificial fragrance from scented candles. Not lounging on the couch for hours and binging shows. Not coming home and napping which disrupts your natural circadian rhythm and is no doubt the reason you can’t sleep at night.

Redefining self care.

While some think of self care as comfort, true self care means you’re improving your health and not detracting from it. True self care means taking care of yourself. If you get on Pinterest and type in “self care,” you’ll no doubt see suggestions like binging your favorite show, napping, having a glass of wine, enjoying your favorite comfort food or lighting scented candles (learn more about exposure to artificial fragrance here). However these all lower your immune system or interrupt your sleep. Take this challenge if you wouldn’t mind humoring me: list the things you do for self care and make a two column table beside it. Label one column “raises my immune system” and the second one “lowers.” If you go back and reread my list of self-care items, they are basically exercise, getting sunlight exposure, getting extra sleep during the night, and eating healthy. These all BOOST the immune system.

We find time (and energy) to do the things that matter to us.

If you are mentally pushing back, thinking how can you take a walk or exercise when you are exhausted from the school day, I hear you! Me too! But that’s the thing and the mindshift change you have to make. YOU GO ANYWAY. I rarely feel like going, but once I’m there I enjoy the routine and I feel AMAZING afterward. I think we mistakingly think of exercise as energy draining, but in actually it is life-giving! You will sleep so much better and you will feel so much stronger and more energized the next day. You will feel proud of yourself for doing it and more confident because your clothes will fit better.

Better sleep, better life.

The amount and quality of your sleep are paramount to your overall mental and physical health. Quality sleep belongs in this post because it’s a time boundary you need to set for yourself and a priority you have to set as well. Make sure that you are going to bed early enough to allow yourself the change to get 8 hours of sleep or rest. The big three that help me go to sleep and stay asleep are taking a magnesium gummy before bed (I like these), diffusing lavender and cedarwood in your bedroom, and temperature – keep your space cool and pile on extra blankets as needed. If you struggle with either going to sleep or staying asleep, I would encourage you to read my post on quality sleep, as there is much more to this than what I am sharing here.

Do your work at work (and how you can do this better.)

I VERY RARELY take any work home with me. The number one way I’m able to accomplish that is by setting planning, lunchtime and before/after school boundaries. In short, I close my door. Now a student here or there may need me and knock on my door, but for the most part, just by closing my door I’m able to work uninterrupted. This is not to be antisocial, but it gives me the time that is the topic of this entire post. I have also realized over the past few years as I have pinpointed my stressors and worked to minimize them, that interruptions are very high on the list. By setting the closed door boundary, I have minimized my interruptions, increased my productivity, and lowered my stress level.

Right or wrong, I eat in my classroom. I’m able to multi-task and get papers graded and recorded while I eat. My lunch is typically composed of finger food so it’s easy for me to be able to eat while I work. Then, as I mentioned earlier in this post, I make sure to get sunlight during this time. I set a timer to go off 8 minutes before students return. This gives me time to walk outdoors to the nicer faculty bathroom and wash my hands using nice hot water. There’s also a water bottle filling station there so I can refill my water bottle with ice and cold water.

Whether you are a teacher or not, a parent or not, the strategies and boundaries shared in this post can help anyone who is wanting to improve their sleep, energy, time management and quality of life. Please share your favorite tip in the comments and let me know if you have other suggestions for how teachers can set better boundaries and prioritize themselves.

teaching

Dear intimidating parent: (From your child’s teacher)

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I wrote this years ago, but never published it out of fear of repercussions from the parent. But I could have written it and related to it any given school year, to apply to many parents I have encountered over the years. Perhaps it will resonate with other teachers out there. And hugs to you!

Dear intimidating parent:

I want you to know how much I care about your child. I spend a great deal of time thinking how to make his experience better. I want him to engage and learn and I really want him to like me.

You and I have more in common than not. I have children too, and though it has been very rare, I too have not always agreed with the decisions my children’s teachers have made or some of the ways they have run their classrooms.

I want to urge you to believe your children’s teachers. I can assure you that they would not take the time out of their class to correct your child if there was no disruption to learning, and wouldn’t have contacted you unless the behavior they are communicating really took place.

I understand that you want to believe your child, but hopefully you can also see why children would lie and deny – they don’t want to get in trouble! The teacher? She is busy and she wouldn’t take the time to make up some incidents unless they actually occurred.

Your child loves you and respects you. They follow your lead on most matters. If they see, think or feel you don’t like someone, they won’t like them either. If you disrespect his teachers and show disapproval, you embolden him to do the same. Please try to support teachers no matter what, and realize that the more you can do this, the better chance your child has of having a good relationship with his teachers. You do not want to deprive them of the gift of loving their teachers. There is nothing like that bond and please realize it does not in anyway change your bond with them.

Even when you don’t agree with the decision, offer support anyway, with a statement like, ” I’m sure they had a good reason,” or “Maybe they were having an off day.” And if you feel your child was truly in the right, you can advise your child to make choices such as ask for a seating change away from a child who is engaging in talking or acting out that they may be getting blamed for. Problem solve.

Intimidating parents may be the greatest stressor I have personally endured this year. Especially those who intimidate parents and administration. In these situations, when I have exhausted all strategies within the classroom, I need backup from our admin to help tame your unruly child. They too feel intimidated by you and so your child receives warnings if anything, and he is permitted to think rules don’t apply to him. He needs to be held accountable for his actions but they get left unchecked because no one wants to interact with you. This only accelerates the behavior I see in my room. We ramp up from minor disruptions to extreme disruptions, defiance and disrespect.

Here’s what concerns me the most for him: he is finding mutuality with other disrespectful and defiant students. The company he is keeping is among the worst I could imagine for him. This should be of a far, far greater concern to you than any expectation I’ve enforced in my classroom.

I am not placing all the blame here with you. Surely he should take responsibility for his actions and I could have forged a better relationship with him in the beginning. But teachers need to feel they can partner with parents and have a liaison and support in you.

When you copy your harsh email to the principal, threaten to call a meeting with central office leaders, or to sue, you break teacher-parent trust and there is no partnership.

The teacher is left to go it alone. The classroom of students who want to learn are having their education infringed upon on a daily basis while your child thinks up a laundry list of ways to push my buttons and has a huge smile on his face while doing so. Talking back, disrespect, making noises, roaming around the room. Yes, he enjoys it.

He gets it: I can do whatever I want in here and no one can do anything about it.

Congratulations.